Australian Open

[Softball Bat]

The men are through to the quarterfinals.


(1) N. Djokovic
(12) T. Fritz

(4) J. Sinner
(5) A. Rublev

(9) H. Hurkacz
(3) D. Medvedev

(6) A. Zervev
(2) C. Alcaraz


The only American left, T. Fritz, will get rolled by NoVax.

J. Sinner is yet to lose a set.

Legend R. Nadal had hopes of playing the event, but had to pull out of the draw due to a muscle tear.

[Screw_Michigan]

I have enjoyed watching Adrian Mannarino this tournament. At first, this guy really irritated me. He's 35 and looks like guys playing at the local courts in DC. He's unsponsored, so he wears a simple t-shirt and he has this unique very short swing on his forehand, which at first drove me crazy.

But he's really really good. He's multi-dimensional and basically can play every shot possible in tennis. He's not a power player so he can do more than just baseline bash. He has this really wide serve that makes his opponents run really far off the court to return, leaving him with lots of court for points. That short swing allows him to preserve his energy and quickly respond to hard shots.

He can play five sets with anyone, well except NoVax. He beat Ben Shelton in 5 and Shelton looked like for a set that he was going to blow him out of the stadium. But Mannario held strong and beat Shelton in 5 hours.

Only thing I don't like about Mannarino is that he likes to slam his racquets. Those Babolat Pure Aeros are great and expensive racquets.

[Softball Bat]

Mannarino is a grinder. As you note, he really has no big weapon.
He has made the most of the natural ability he has.

He has this really wide serve that makes his opponents run really far off the court to return, leaving him with lots of court for points.

Good observation.

Left-handed servers are able to swing a wide serve in the ad court out to the opponent's backhand, which is generally the weaker wing, and also does not have as much reach as the forehand.

And the majority of big points in a match start with a serve to the ad court.

[L45B]

The only American left, T. Fritz, will get rolled by NoVax.

This didn’t quite happen. Fritz had two set points in the 1st set (lost in a tiebreaker), won the second but then got taken down the rest of the way.

This was a far better showing than their quarterfinal match at the US Open in September (I was at that match and Fritz got manhandled).

Either TF is improving or Novak is getting older but I think this could be a good year for Fritz. He gave Tsitsipas a nice ass whooping in the round of 16. Best match I’ve seen him play. He might have reached the semis this year if he had drawn anybody else in the quarters other than Djoker.

Still the best American player with a close second being Ben Shelton.

[Softball Bat]

I think this could be a good year for Fritz. He gave Tsitsipas a nice ass whooping in the round of 16. Best match I’ve seen him

That was a very solid win.

[Screw_Michigan]

Sat next to Frances Tiafoe at my club yesterday. He was chilling in the lobby watching some tournament replays and I was trying on some tennis shoes. I wasn't sure if it was him at first because I thought he was supposed to be in Melbourne. Then I got home and checked....apparently not.

What is his problem? He shouldn't be losing in the second round of any slam.

[Softball Bat]

17th seed, and got rolled in straight sets in the 2nd round.
Disappointing result for him.


Zverev upset Alcaraz, and looked great in the process.
Will face Medvedev in the semis.

Djoker will face J. Sinner, who still has not lost a set in the tournament.

[Screw_Michigan]

https://nypost.com/2024/01/24/sports/co ... pen-drama/

Coco Gauff claps back at opponent’s husband after Australian Open hat drama

[Meat Head]

I love it when he talks this way

Sinner

[L45B]

17th seed, and got rolled in straight sets in the 2nd round.
Disappointing result for him.

Tiafoe playing at a high level, especially at Grand Slams, has its long list of dependencies. For one, he needs a loud crowd behind him or else he plays with little fire or purpose. Which pretty much rules out deep runs in three of the slams. As Bat has mentioned previously, his quirky mechanics (especially on forehand side) limits his consistency. Love the guy, but he’ll never be top 5 material unfortunately. Probably not top 10 either.

In my view, the only near-term hope at this point for an American male player to break the top 5 is Fritz (dwindling), Shelton (still young) and Jenson Brooksby (if he ever returns after the dope testing infractions). Reilly Opelka was once in there too but his injuries may stall his career inevitably. Tommy Paul could be a top 10 guy but doesn’t have the big weapon to be top 5.

Zverev upset Alcaraz, and looked great in the process.
Will face Medvedev in the semis.

On the other hand, Sascha Zverev looks to be back to his previous top 5 form. Medvedev has looked sloppy in this tournament, and if Zverev has any gas left in the tank I expect him to reach the finals.

Djoker will face J. Sinner, who still has not lost a set in the tournament.

I have been pretty skeptical and critical of Sinner in the past but I think he is a true threat with Cahill coaching him. He has been really close to knocking out Djoker, this could be his chance to do it in a slam. I have a hard time picking against Novak in Melbourne, where he’s essentially Nadal in Paris. Should be an interesting match. I’ll still take Djoker in 4 hard sets.

As for the women, Sabalenka got her revenge on Coco in the semis and should cruise in the finals against Zheng in easy straight sets in just barely an hour.

[Softball Bat]

Wow!

Sinner handled NoVax with relative ease.
Medvedev came back from two sets down to get past Zverev, winning the 3rd and 4th sets in tiebreakers.
Epic.

[L45B]

I called my shots and was wrong on both. I stayed up and watched the end of the Sinner vs Djokovic match, only caught the end of the Medvedev vs Zverev match early in the morning east coast.

Djokovic never even sniffed a break point on Sinner’s serve. Totally owned him. He is finally playing elite style tennis and is primed for a grand slam victory.

Medvedev gutted out a very tough match, he pointed to his brain after he won but that was some serious mental toughness on his part. Zverev was essentially two points from winning in straight sets.

Well I’m ready to be wrong again, but I actually think Medvedev’s head game and experience in Slam finals (and conversely, Sinner’s lack of GS finals experience) will prevail on Sunday. Daniil in 5 sets. Nonetheless, I would consider Medvedev winning as a slight upset given how each has been playing in this tournament. Sinner has barely burned any gas.

We’ll see what happens. Again, to repeat, Sabalenka absolutely cruises tonight in the women’s. No obnoxious grunting even required.

[Softball Bat]

Medvedev has grand slam final experience. This is all new for J. Sinner.

If the court was a little faster, I think Medvedev would have a better chance.
The slow hard court suits Sinner's game very well.

Also, as you note, Sinner is very fresh, while Medvedev really had to dig deep to pull out that win in the semifinal.

Head-to-head, Medvedev leads Sinner 6-3.
However, Sinner has won the last 3 meetings.

I like Sinner in 4 sets.

[L45B]

I’m secretly hoping you’re right Bat. I like Sinner and especially like what Cahill has done for his game.

Him winning Sunday really makes things interesting for the year, and would add another true contender to the men’s dynamic, which is currently dominated by Djoker, an upcoming Alcaraz, and “occasionally” Medvedev.

We need more contenders in the mix.

[Softball Bat]

We need more contenders in the mix.

Indeed.

In a perfect world, this fresh grand slam final face would be a 22 year old American instead of a 22 year old Italian.

American sports fans don't give a rip about Jannik Sinner.

[L45B]

Yes, sadly Jannik Sinner was an infant the last time an American male won a grand slam.

[Diego in Seattle]

We need more contenders in the mix.

Indeed.

In a perfect world, this fresh grand slam final face would be a 22 year old American instead of a 22 year old Italian.

American sports fans don't give a rip about Jannik Sinner.

For the most part I don't give a shit about tennis.

I really don't give a fuck about golf or America's Cup, either.

And I think I'm in the camp of most American sports fans.

[Softball Bat]

Sinner drops the first two sets, but then grinds his way all the way back to claim his first major.

Props to the 2024 Aussie Open Champion, Jannik Sinner!

[L45B]

Great match and tournament. Medvedev went for the early knockout and was a couple points from breaking Sinner’s serve in the third set, which would’ve sealed it. Pretty much a role reversal of his semifinal match with Zverev. The longer the match went on, the worse it was going to be for Meddy.

Now it’s on. Sinner is no pretender. Wonder if we’ll see a GS final with him pitted against Alcaraz as early as this year.

[Roux]

American sports fans don't give a rip about Jannik Sinner. tennis

But I like these tennis threads. I've followed more tennis here than I ever have in my life

[Rootbeer]

American sports fans don't give a rip about Jannik Sinner. tennis

But I like these tennis threads. I've followed more tennis here than I ever have in my life

This is me 100%. I know 0.00 things about professional tennis but these threads are fascinating. I find myself nodding to things I have no clue about. Pops saying "A left handed serve to the Ad side is harder to return because...reasons." and I'm like mmmyeah that makes sense while having no idea what any of that means

[Roach]

4th

[L45B]

Just know this about the 15-30-40 game scoring system in tennis.

No one was trying to be cute or super complicated for the sake of appearing smart.

Back in the day, before there were scoreboards and big screens, tennis games were scored using a pocket watch, hence the quarter hours making up the scoring reference.

Why 40 instead of 45? It was said, because of the rule of winning by 2, the scorekeepers would move the watch hand to 40 in the event the game went to deuce (ie a tie at 3 points or more each).

If it did reach deuce, the scorekeeper would use the 50’ to signify who had the advantage. Back to 40’ if that player didn’t win the game and it went back to deuce. And so on and so forth…

[Screw_Michigan]

Just know this about the 15-30-40 game scoring system in tennis.

No one was trying to be cute or super complicated for the sake of appearing smart.

Back in the day, before there were scoreboards and big screens, tennis games were scored using a pocket watch, hence the quarter hours making up the scoring reference.

Why 40 instead of 45? It was said, because of the rule of winning by 2, the scorekeepers would move the watch hand to 40 in the event the game went to deuce (ie a tie at 3 points or more each).

If it did reach deuce, the scorekeeper would use the 50’ to signify who had the advantage. Back to 40’ if that player didn’t win the game and it went back to deuce. And so on and so forth…

It's such a pain in the fucking ass. I have trouble keeping track of my scores (not as much trouble as the assholes who refuse to call out their scores when serving) and it makes me feel stupid. Tennis would be way better off scrapping this stupid scoring method for the games. But what do I know?

[L45B]

Most humans are bad with terminology. That’s why the current game scoring system, though arbitrary, serves its purpose. Easier not to f up.

“Ok it’s 1-1.”

“I thought you said it was 1-1?”

“No, I meant the score of this game, not of the set.”

“Wait whuuu? I thought you were saying we’ve each won a set. Now I’m confused. Wtf is the score of this… thing?”